Chris Froome tests positive for Salbutamol

Chips Lovell · 13-12-2017 10:59am

Hang on, he didn't test positive at any of the Tours though, so there'll be no star.

And remember, this is going overboard on Ventolin, not EPO or blood doping. Very different things.

It's quite likely he'll get a suspension, like Petacchi, Trentin or Ulissi previously, but to say its a shameful legacy for the sport is going way over the top.

ThisRegard · 13-12-2017 11:08am

Well, it is. Top team purporting to be whiter than white with apparently the best medical team around manage to get this so wrong? That's a ****ty legacy from the self proclaimed best pro cycling team. Has it been used as a masking agent in the past?

What "mistakes" are the other lesser teams doing?

There may be no physical star but it's there mentally for all to see.

terrydel · 13-12-2017 11:22am

Baron de Charlus wrote: »

Hang on, he didn't test positive at any of the Tours though, so there'll be no star.

And remember, this is going overboard on Ventolin, not EPO or blood doping. Very different things.

It's quite likely he'll get a suspension, like Petacchi, Trentin or Ulissi previously, but to say its a shameful legacy for the sport is going way over the top.

Glad you think so. Its that kind of nonchalant attitude to the whole thing that allows it to carry on in my view. But we obviously disagree on the issue.

Miklos · 13-12-2017 11:34am

ThisRegard wrote: »

Well, it is. Top team purporting to be whiter than white with apparently the best medical team around manage to get this so wrong? That's a ****ty legacy from the self proclaimed best pro cycling team. Has it been used as a masking agent in the past?

The purported to be whiter than white in the beginning, they are happy to just be grey these days I think.

zurbfoundation · 13-12-2017 11:47am

godtabh wrote: »

I love there transparency. Found out in September. Release a statement just before the UCI.

To all noting the timing, its quite a normal time frame - just compare it to boxer Tyson Fury's anti-doping result from last night - gave a positive test for a steroid in February 2015, was allowed to box on and beat Klitschko months later (which still stands) and last night the whole thing got backdated and he is cleared to continue. Or Ciaran Kelly at the Gorey 3 day, April 2014, news made public late June 2015. When there are procedures to follow, it can take time.

Then again you could just get thrown under the Team Sky Bus like Jon Tiernan Locke.

py wrote: »

Interesting to see what effect it had on his BBC sports personality chances now.

of course - the big prize

terrydel · 13-12-2017 11:56am

zurbfoundation wrote: »

of course - the big prize

BBC sports pesonality - does anyone give a two bob bit about that anymore?!

DKmac · 13-12-2017 12:10pm

Thud wrote: »

supposedly it'd be about 15 to 20 puffs of a regular inhaler to go over the limit

"Salbutamol doesn’t need a TUE as long as you don’t exceed a certain amount. And, to be honest, you can’t go near that amount using an inhaler, unless you are taking 20 to 40 puffs [a day]. You just can’t. "

That's from an interview with Conor McGrane on CyclingTips a while back.
https://cyclingtips.com/2016/04/why-do-so-many-elite-cyclists-have-asthma/
So Froome must have been taking 40-80 puffs a day to have twice the allowable amount.

velo.2010 · 13-12-2017 12:16pm

Baron de Charlus wrote: »

It's quite likely he'll get a suspension, like Petacchi, Trentin or Ulissi previously, but to say its a shameful legacy for the sport is going way over the top.

If he's banned, he's finished. Sky will have no choice but to sack him, if only to appear to enforce their 'strict' policy on doping. No other team will touch Froome (apart from Astana, as he is fond of a selfie with Vino).

Sky will soon have new owners... Disney. I wonder what they will think of BSKYB's ventures in the world of pro cycling!

terrydel · 13-12-2017 12:18pm

velo.2010 wrote: »

If he's banned, he's finished. Sky will have no choice but to sack him, if only to appear to enforce their 'strict' policy on doping. No other team will touch Froome (apart from Astana, as he is fond of a selfie with Vino).

Sky will soon have new owners... Disney. I wonder what they will think of BSKYB's ventures in the world of pro cycling!

Mickey mouse I'd say :P

nilhg · 13-12-2017 12:23pm

DKmac wrote: »

"Salbutamol doesn’t need a TUE as long as you don’t exceed a certain amount. And, to be honest, you can’t go near that amount using an inhaler, unless you are taking 20 to 40 puffs [a day]. You just can’t. "

That's from an interview with Conor McGrane on CyclingTips a while back.
https://cyclingtips.com/2016/04/why-do-so-many-elite-cyclists-have-asthma/
So Froome must have been taking 40-80 puffs a day to have twice the allowable amount.

Or taken some orally?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10850394

Look at the timeline, bad day on the 6th, loses time, big comeback on the 7th, fails test..........

death1234567 · 13-12-2017 12:28pm

nak wrote: »

No. You don't need a TUE for salbutamol. Plus it's has no real benefit to non asthmatics.

Really? So if I'm non-asthmatic and in the middle of a three week tour and I take "a short-acting bronchodilator medication that opens up the medium and large airways in the lungs" it won't give me any benefit at all?

death1234567 · 13-12-2017 12:30pm

Baron de Charlus wrote: »

No, he may lose the Vuelta title alright

Good job Paddy Power have already paid out

velo.2010 · 13-12-2017 12:34pm

There's an interview Froome did with Kimmage floating around on Twitter from a few years ago. Froome says his Ventolin inhaler is for 'big efforts'. Kimmage said that sounded like performance enhancement. Froome said it was the same as eating a large breakfast before a long day on the bike. Not really the same thing, is it?

Chips Lovell · 13-12-2017 12:35pm

velo.2010 wrote: »

If he's banned, he's finished. Sky will have no choice but to sack him, if only to appear to enforce their 'strict' policy on doping.

I'd be surprised if they willingly let their prize asset go. I know Petacchi was sacked in 2008, but Ulissi and Simon Yates were both kept on by their teams without much fuss.

godtabh · 13-12-2017 12:44pm

zurbfoundation wrote: »

To all noting the timing, its quite a normal time frame - just compare it to boxer Tyson Fury's anti-doping result from last night - gave a positive test for a steroid in February 2015, was allowed to box on and beat Klitschko months later (which still stands) and last night the whole thing got backdated and he is cleared to continue. Or Ciaran Kelly at the Gorey 3 day, April 2014, news made public late June 2015. When there are procedures to follow, it can take time.

Then again you could just get thrown under the Team Sky Bus like Jon Tiernan Locke.

of course - the big prize

Sky could have issued a statement back then if they wanted to. They didnt. No transparency.

terrydel · 13-12-2017 12:45pm

Cant wait to hear what kimmage has to say!

godtabh · 13-12-2017 12:50pm

Baron de Charlus wrote: »

I'd be surprised if they willingly let their prize asset go. I know Petacchi was sacked in 2008, but Ulissi and Simon Yates were both kept on by their teams without much fuss.

Yates was kept on because the team ****ed up (and also he will be/is a star)

nak · 13-12-2017 12:55pm

death1234567 wrote: »

Really? So if I'm non-asthmatic and in the middle of a three week tour and I take "a short-acting bronchodilator medication that opens up the medium and large airways in the lungs" it won't give me any benefit at all?

It doesn't have that effect in non-asthmatics. You might see increased heart rate presenting as palpitations with inhaled salbutamol but that's pretty much it.

Water John · 13-12-2017 1:03pm

Seen a few reports recently on extreme athletes and about 1 in 8 have induced athsma. Does this fit in here and how should such a phenomenon be regulated?

Chips Lovell · 13-12-2017 1:04pm

godtabh wrote: »

Yates was kept on because the team ****ed up

Froome said the team's doctor advised him he could increase his dosage. It's possible the doctor didn't factor in the effect of exercise and dehydration on urine concentration of the drug.

godtabh · 13-12-2017 1:07pm

Baron de Charlus wrote: »

Froome said the team's doctor advised him he could increase his dosage. It's possible the doctor didn't factor in the effect of exercise and dehydration on urine concentration of the drug.

Bye bye doctor. Froome still getting a ban though

Chips Lovell · 13-12-2017 1:09pm

Yeah, I'd be surprised if he avoids one. There's plenty of precedents and it's hard to imagine him successfully arguing his case was different.

13-12-2017 1:20pm

Some quotes from Nibali on the matter.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nibali-chris-froome-salbutamol-case-is-terrible-for-the-sport/

Weepsie · 13-12-2017 1:29pm

Deleted User wrote: »

Some quotes from Nibali on the matter.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/nibali-chris-froome-salbutamol-case-is-terrible-for-the-sport/

He has called his own team mate "imbeciles" for doping in the past so I somewhat believe him, however he rode for Astana and Vinkourov so he's kind of taking both sides as far as I'm concerned.

irishrover99 · 13-12-2017 1:58pm

Weepsie wrote: »

He has called his own team mate "imbeciles" for doping in the past so I somewhat believe him, however he rode for Astana and Vinkourov so he's kind of taking both sides as far as I'm concerned.

The hounds will certainly be rounding on Froome for this.
They will see this a golden opportunity for a GT win next year.

I'd say Contador is kicking himself for retiring after hearing this news.

velo.2010 · 13-12-2017 2:03pm

So Froome spoofed the Giro organisers. They must be feeling just a little bit sick right about now. He's known about this test since Sept 20. If precedent is followed, he may be looking at a 9 month ban, backdated to the Vuelta. That puts him out of the Giro.

I was surprised at the number of commercial commitments he had taken up for the past couple of months... he just recently returned from Australia after doing an ASO sportive. A week before, he was in the States doing stuff for Ford. Looks like he was getting them out of the way before this was announced.

Some more damning inferences being made on Twitter, a la Contador and how that Clenbutoral got into his system.

terrydel · 13-12-2017 2:07pm

irishrover99 wrote: »

The hounds will certainly be rounding on Froome for this.
They will see this a golden opportunity for a GT win next year.

I'd say Contador is kicking himself for retiring after hearing this news.

Nothing stopping him un-retiring.
Then we can have one cheat profit from the misfortune of another. Doesnt that just warm your heart?!

Urindanger · 13-12-2017 2:25pm

The book was thrown at Contador for a miniscule concentration of a PED. Froome was double the legal amount of his PED. If there is any decency left in the sport they have to make an example of him and Team Sky. I doubt they will though unfortunately.

Looking forward to what Kimmage response to this is as well as Dave Walsh the coward. That bullsh*t book he wrote and his whole biased stance on Team Sky has been diabolical and a damn shame after all the work he did in the Lance case.

Weepsie · 13-12-2017 2:27pm

Urindanger wrote: »

The book was thrown at Contador for a miniscule concentration of a PED. Froome was double the legal amount of his PED. If there is any decency left in the sport they have to make an example of him and Team Sky. I doubt they will though unfortunately.

.

One of them was a banned substance, one was not

Lumen · 13-12-2017 2:28pm

Urindanger wrote: »

The book was thrown at Contador for a miniscule concentration of a PED. Froome was double the legal amount of his PED.

Salbutamol is not a PED as commonly defined.

Chris Froome tests positive for Salbutamol

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